Hop-on and hop-off round Hanoi

Two open-topped bus routes have been serving tourists and locals in Hanoi over the last year or so, providing exciting and flexible tours of Vietnam's capital.

The red buses are run by Hanoi Transerco and the green and yellow ones are run by Vietnam Sightseeing. Both are operational during national holidays, including this long weekend.

The Hanoi City Tour bus route run by Hanoi Transerco was the first route to be launched in May 2018.

Red two-deck hop on hop off by Hanoi Transerco was the first of its kind in the city for tourists. VNS Photo Truong Vi

The Hanoi City tour bus No 01 passes 25 streets with 13 stops, from where tourists can access 30 must-see destinations in the city.

There are headphones with audio guides in Vietnamese, Chinese, English, French, Korean, Japanese and Russian.

Hanoi City Tour buses run non-stop, with a new bus coming every 30 minutes between 9am and 5pm. Each bus can host up to 80 people.

From the bus, one can have a different view of the streets. VNS Photo Trung Hieu

“Hanoi City Tour bus by Hanoi Transerco is the first of its kind in Hanoi using two-decked buses and various modern facilities,” said Nguyen The Hung, deputy chairman of the city’s People’s Committee. “The bus has brought tourists one more high quality tourism product.”

The buses pass various sight-seeings of the city. VNS Photo Trung Hieu

The ticket price ranges from VND196,000 (US$8.4) for a two hour-tour; VND300,000 for four hours; VND450,000 for 24 hours; and VND650,000 for 48 hours.

The 24 and 48 hour tickets also allow riders free access to the two-way buses from Noi Bai Airport to Hanoi and vice versa and a 'night tour' of the city worth VND200,000.

The passengers are mostly foreigners, who can choose various tickets, 4 hour – 24 hour and 48 hour at three price ranges of VND219,000 –VND329,000 and VND479,000. They can get off and on at any stop.

Free drinks, raincoats, bamboo hats are offered on the bus.

According to Vietnam Sightseeing, the firm that runs the route, on average as many as 70 tourists take the tour every day. Each day the bus runs for eight hours. There are 55 seats on each bus including special seats for people with disabilities.